Peter Hain, Britain's first African-born minister for Africa, launches his autobiography, depicting a lifetime of political turmoil.

Peter Hain, anti-apartheid campaigner and Shadow Secretary of State, launched his autobiography, Outside In last week in London.

At the launch, Iain Dale, Managing Director of BiteBack publishing, said Outside In was one of the top five books they had published, despite his personal surprise at being approached by Hain in the first place. Biteback is a political publisher launched in 2009 and has produced 140 titles since, following current affairs, politics and goverment, and biographies. He added that Hain’s writing could “even make Wales interesting”.

Wearing a trademark bright pink tie, Hain thanked everyone who had attended the launch, especially his parents. He spoke about the narrative of the book, which included “repeated pitch invasions” to prevent South Africa’s all-white team touring in England. The warm response to a few self-reflective jokes revealed the number of people who were not as much interested in his politics, as old friends. The majority of the crowd were not colleagues, but had known him personally for many years, some with similar memories of anti-apartheid protests.

Hain was surrounded, not by industry professionals or politicians, but by friends and well-wishers. Even his parents, both in their eighties, had come across from Wales for the day. I spoke to them about some of the actions that led to their joining the anti-apartheid movement and eventually leaving South Africa. His mother said that when Peter was little, they hired a young black boy temporarily as a gardener. The boy was beaten up in the street by a group of white adults for his presence on the pavement. When the police did nothing, the couple wrote to the local paper to highlight the boy’s treatment. They said at that point, “after helping one person”, they could not fail to treat everyone in the same manner. They felt that once you had acted that way, you couldn’t be seen to back down or change your mind.

It is clear how such an upbringing inspired such a strong-willed individual. Hain’s account in Outside In is frank and moving. His politics is driven by the importance of the incidents he lived through, and so it is not the story of his life, but the entwined history of several nations which is being told.

When asked to give a message to South African expats, he said “You’re doing a great job, and when you go back, carry on doing so in the new South Africa.”

Next week I will speak to Hain about the book – look out for the interview!